The women crowned their champion today, a surprising Cinderella in Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli. Tomorrow in the men’s final there will be no such surprise because the two men remaining are the two men most thought we’d see playing on the final Sunday in Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

Before the title match, first to the semifinals from yesterday.

The best thing I saw Friday was the re-emergence of Juan Martin Del Potro. Grass isn’t even his surface but Del Potro, taped knee and all, showed again why he could (or should) be the next new No. 1. Playing in his first Grand Slam semifinal since early 2010 wrist surgery, Del Potro went toe-to-toe, stroke-for-stroke with the world No. 1 and 2011 champion Djokovic in a five-set cliffhanger that will go down among the greatest matches ever played at Wimbledon.

Del Potro, who had lost 19-17 to Roger Federer during the Olympics on the same court, again displayed his heart, his fight and above all his very raw, ferocious game. If he can stay healthy, very big if, you have to think many more Grand Slams are in his future, maybe one in just 45 days.

As for Djokovic, full credit to the Serb who was slipping and sliding around the court in his new club-mandated sneaks. It wasn’t his finest performance but once again he showed the resolve that champions need. Novak took Del Potro’s very best shot and somehow survived.

As for Murray, he got down early then relied on that experience to overcome the monstrous 6-foot-8 Jerzy Janowicz. The Pole, a future Top 5 player I believe, showed a lot of variety and touch, perhaps too much of the latter, but in the end Murray just wanted it and desired it more. And he’ll give the local something to really cheer for come Sunday.

So, that sets up the “dream” final…

Andy Murray vs. Novak Djokovic
The two best hardcourt players in the game renew their rivalry on the lush lawns of Wimbledon. Djokovic leads this series 11-7 having won the last three but Murray got him in the US Open final just after he beat him in the Olympic semifinals last August on the grass.

For me, the Olympic win may help Murray a little in the confidence department but I really don’t factor it in much here because I just don’t think Djokovic was mentally into it back then. After his physical win over Del Potro Friday, he is now. He’s 100% invested.

And I don’t think there will be any carryover fatigue. Murray played five sets in his quarter and then four yesterday while Djokovic punched the clock for nearly five hours in the Del Potro epic. But even as the temperatures are forecasted to climb higher Sunday, both guys are incredibly fit and fresh. And as we’ve seen over and over before Djokovic seems to play even better after grueling marathon wins.

As for the matchup, both are very similar guys. Both play all court games with decent serves, excellent returns, etc. Djokovic offers a little more power while Murray gets the edge in variety, but otherwise there’s little to choose between these two longtime rivals.

Therefore I think the key will be the serving numbers. Both guys had huge ace days in their semifinals (20+) and I feel the guy who leads in that category tomorrow may very well win it.

I also think Djokovic is playing the slightly better tennis week, and he might save his best for last. Novak cruised into the semifinals where he met a very dangerous, very in-form Del Potro. Djokovic needed to find some magic to outlast Del Potro because the Argentine simply wasn’t giving anything anyway. Novak just took what really wasn’t there.

While during a bad patch, Murray needed help to beat Fernando Verdasco and got it from the mentally weak Spaniard who wasn’t able to put the Scot away. And Murray also was in some trouble in the third set to Janowicz before the 22-year-old also succumbed to the moment.

The moment won’t get to Djokovic and neither will Murray. Not in the end of another majestic win.The pick: Djokovic in five

126 Comments for It’s Andy Murray Against Novak Djokovic For The Wimbledon Title, Who’s The Pick?

Angel Says:

It could go either way but I think Murray it’s a little bit better grass court player and he’s a little bit fresher so if the pressure doesn’t get to him, he might win in 4 sets. It’d be really difficult for Murray to win it in a 5th set for the enourmus amount of pressure that he’d be felling that’s for sure. Well I just hope it’s a good match.
Enjoy it.

No amount of Sean’s curse is going to prevent lady forehand crying like a wimp. i hope we will see his fans brando/margot/giles/james/da/volley after sunday. luckily none of them really are murray fans!

i mean how does anyone live with the shame of a perennial loser? i hope murray writes a book on how a loser lives with himself.if only delpotro had beaten nole, murray could win it like he wins those masters titles.

murray will get one set if nole takes some pity and throws him a bone. else, nole will crush him.

can’t wait for the final to begin. maybe wimbledon can ban nole from playing with shoes. they tried everything to make it easy for murray to win this. how low will they have to stoop before they feel murray can somehow win it? Maybe they should petition the ATP and anounce it after the final that they cannot stoop any more and they would really like it if all the players can donate murray a wimbledon.

I just don’t see this guy winning a wimbledon. he’s going to be another henman – remember that great british player before andy. he used to choke in semis, our fanged one chokes in finals. fred perry was the last british player to not choke in a final

Murray in 5. 4/6 7/6 3/6 6/4 7/5 Nole will get frustrated eventually. The crowd will cheer after he’s hit DF,easy unforced errors etc. He is mentally strong,he will fight but he will experience the treatment on Center Court he never witnessed before.Of course,there is always that “not allowing the crowd to get into the match” ,but Murray is too tough ,he’ll get into the match at some point.

I’m just not buying Delpo as a winner of several grand slams. Two maybe, but he’s just not quite as good as Djokovic, Murray, Nadal (when he’s healthy) or Federer (when he’s not having one of his more and more frequent off days).

Delpo’s speed around the court, though impressive for a big man, is far inferior to the Murray, Djokovic and Nadal, and he’s also more inconsistent. He played his absolute best yesterday and Djokovic was awful on his backhand side, yet Djokovic still won.

I admit, I went through my own phase of doubt, even outright disliking the guy, because he kept making major finals only to turn into a childish neg-head who screamed bloody murder at himself and imploded under the pressure.

But if you can’t see the evolution – not just of Murray’s game, but also of his personality – I think you’re blind. Lendl and others have pushed him to drop the inner monologue a bit and let his (very awesome) talent manifest itself.

We’ve all talked about that breakthrough moment when Djokovic ripped a forehand return winner on Fed’s match point at the USO 2011. Something clicked – there was a release there. He became a little bit free in that moment. Life is bigger than sport. Sport is a game. All of life is a game. This is fun. I can win. And if I don’t, I will play again tomorrow. When he got ready to receive the next serve, this little smile appeared. Everyone in the stadium knew: Novak Djokovic is not afraid to lose. And we all know what happened after that. That same smile came back after a couple of Delpo’s incredible saves on Friday. And take a look at who made the final…

So Nole has an edge against Murray but it’s not really a technical edge. It’s just that he’s ahead of Murray in his psychological development. We watched Nole struggle for years despite having the talent to win multiple slams. Murray has done the same. There is no guarantee that he will have the sort of breakthrough that Nole had, but when I watch Murray play I do see clear progress in that direction. He has developed some insight into his own mental demons – which he talked about in the BBC documentary a little bit – and I do think it shows.

John McEnroe said the other day that he thinks Murray is ready now for this win. I think that’s a good way of putting it. He definitely wasn’t ready a couple years ago. Nole is certainly the favourite, and he definitely won’t roll over for Murray Sunday, but who knows, maybe Muzza will have his own epiphany at just the right moment in the match. He’s a LOT closer than some people are giving him credit for. After previous big losses the pundits spoke constantly about the cumulative damage these losses would do to Murray. They commented endlessly about the fact that if he didn’t win soon he would never win etc. etc. It made sense in our heads at the time, but it isn’t at all how things played out. Murray dealt with those losses in his own way, won the USO and olympic gold, and here he is in the finals of Wimby again. There trend has been inexorably toward the top, not the other way around.

I wasn’t a Muzza fan early on, and I like Nole a lot, but I think it would be great if tomorrow were Murray’s day. He’s earned my respect and I dare say he’s finally growing up.

Unclear as to the amount of abuse Nadal gets here, he deserves better. Fed fans should support Andy, lest Novak gets one closer to 17. Novak has two huge fifth sets to Andy and Rafa in USO and FO. If it goes to a fifth, Andy will have a slight edge: crowd and USO.

I dont seem him winning another slam with his lady-forehand either. unless atp further slows down conditions, but then he will start getting manhandled by claycourters like stan and almagro. the wimbledon authorities are doing everything except having murray’s opponents kidnapped/locked down and the dude still can’t win.

if he doesn’t win it tomorrow, he ain’t winning, next year onwards he will start losing to rosol, darcis, brands and klizan.

tharks: keep hoping. as margot said pigs will fly before andy gets anywhere near that trophy. i will be surprised if he doesn’t retire/withdraw with that back injury that conveniently occurs during the clay season.

I think Novak’s game is falling with each round. Even though, he keeps saying that he is playing better than 2011..I certainly don’t think so…His ever reliable back-hand down the line was completely missing with Delpo. His serve won’t be as effective against Murray..Having said that..even Murray is also not playing as well as he did last year wimby….In the best interest of the game..I hope Murray wins…This will be huge for the sport especially in UK..

Morris dancer. “has 0 education, cannot hold a conversation”.
You are totally deluded and mis-informed. The man is Spanish and made a tremendous effort to learn English. Can you hold a conversation with him in Spanish? Of course you can’t! You will be surprised how learned and intelligent the Great Rafael Nadal is! But then again I don’t expect you to ever have that honour and opportunity. All you are good for is posting garbage on this forum. Did you say you are an investment banker? Or are you just the tea boy??
#Loser

When was holding a conversation a prerequisite to be a great champion. A subpar tournament this year and both these guys lucky Fed was not in his 2012 form. He would have disposed of both these guys like he did last year. He must be kicking himself for his poor preparation this year.

it is important to be a great human being before being a great champion. there are 1000s of athletes who are miserable human beings and if you think winning tennis matches or earning a few 100million$ makes some one a great human being, your perception of good/bad is juvenile.

i am sure you think paris hilton/kardashians or lady gaga are great human beings too.

please enroll yourself back into elementary school and do not drop out before high school. too many illiterates who think hitting/throwin/kicking a ball makes someone a role model.

I just think that Nole is a better player in this moment.. He had much tougher opponents than Murray, who didn’t even play anybody in the top 20, barely top 50 in this tournament and still managed to loose tree sets (barely played “anybody”).. Just my thoughts, but I think Nole deserves to win here, he earned it, has just beaten two top 8 players, could/should have finished DelPo in four maybe less..
And organizers risking his QF match to be delayed because of rain and choosing his footwear for him is a bit of an issue, at least for me.. if they want to be sure that Murray wins, all they had to do is just invite him and all players below nr 50 or 70(Verdasco almost won :) ). IF they want good tennis, they should just let them play in peace, let them wear what they want, swear how much they want and kiss and hug and have a drink when battling is done.. Just my thoughts.. I’m hoping for a good match, and Nole to win :)..

“And organizers risking his QF match to be delayed because of rain and choosing his footwear for him is a bit of an issue, at least for me.. if they want to be sure that Murray wins, all they had to do is just invite him and all players below nr 50 or 70(Verdasco almost won :) )”

Amen! I am glad someone sees the pointlessness of this propaganda to make Nole some sort of an evil monster and murray being a saint – how pathetic was he begging the refree to not close the roof. It’s like the guy is afraid that jerzy is going to manhandle him in a closed arena.

If they were not supposed to use the roof, him and his mum should have opposed the roof, way back in 2009. I am sure claydal who sucks indoors would have made his usual preaching about how playing indoors is bad for the game and the players as players might not get enough sun and players might be at risk of getting skin cancer.

then we will have bimbos like giles/colon/da/zod come and hail claydal and lady-forehand as the guys who prevent 100s of tennis players from future generations from getting skin-cancer.

they are like blind puppies running blindly in circles hoping they will find a bone. guess what? nole is made of much sterner stuff. he is going to stab the dagger deep into the hearts of muzza-nation. I cannot wait for this blood-bath to commence. To see nole take another step towards tennis mortality in the face of hatred from claydal, lady-forehand, the entire spanish tennis fans and british fans is absolute epic.

where will they be hiding when nole overtakes nadal’s puny 102 weeks at no.1? I will be waiting here to remind them every week nole spends @ no.1

Let’s start now 89 and counting.

In 4 more weeks, nole will replace claydal in the consecutive weeks at no.1 list. with that claydal’s 56consecutive weeks at no.1 will be out of the top10.

Andy is more natural and comfortable on grass than Nole. He is going to have 15,000 noisy Brits with him, he has a game that doesn’t suit Nole. Is that going to be enough for victory? I don’t know but I know that my man has a heart of Lion and will fight until end for his second Wimbledon.

I will not be around after match so I want now to congrats to who ever wins and give commiseration to who ever lose and to their respective fans.

Good luck Nole, just play your game and make us proud as you always do, you have got a heart of Lion.

“Novak’s draw isn’t great but he won’t have to deal with a tough semifinal and he plays well against Murray. But like I said before if anyone can navigate a brutal draw it’s Nadal.”

This is what Sean wrote as preview. The Sean jinx in full effect. Claydal survived the “brutal” draw for all od 2hrs and 2 sets.

nole’s semi-final was supposed to be easy.

he still picked novak over murray. So kudos to you Sean!

I don’t see this going 5 sets. Nole will put the “beat down” because he has the “wood” on murray.

BG’s popular words. Speaking of Gilbert, early on 1st monday morning he went on a huge rant on how nadal is the 2nd best grass court player. end of the day, claydal was mercilessly dumped out. end of the tournament, his position as the 2nd best grass-courter is looking exceedingly fragile. no knock on BG, but it is strange that world-class coaches cannot see nole’s stock rising and claydal’s waning. I guess there is only so much “gut feeling/instinct” can do. Without a sound analysis/approach it counts for nothing.

the same number of brits couldn’t stop a 30year old federer from taking out a guy 6years younger to him.

Nole will not have to fight, he is easily the superior player. all he will have to do is execute his game and not freeze like he did in the semis at FO/Wimbledon. For what it is worth, I think he will pull this out in 4 or less sets.

I don’t know why nole fans are selling nole short. When Federer played tennis like this, experts and fans used to gush all over the world in joy. The guy is playing some ridiculously good tennis in the last 3 years and it is mostly federer fans like Ben/myself that are more confident in his abilities than nole fans.

Don’t let the rafa/murray fans project their negative thoughts/feelings onto your view of nole. He’s well on his path to 12+ slams and 200+ weeks at number 1 at the least.

“Look at the Delpo/Djoko semi – that level of quality AND that degree of sportsmanship in the same arena is very rare. It hasn’t always been this way.”

sorry, but every generation has been unique. You have not seen the past generation and/or not capable of enjoying the other generations. Tennis has had classic contests from the 60s. There have been absolute legends of the game much before that too.

I suggest you pick up books on tennis history and read about tilden, budge, kramer, gonzalez, hoad, the french musketeers, perry, laver and the aussies and connors, borg, mcenroe, lendl, becker, edberg, wilander, sampras, agassi, courier, kafelnikov and so on and so forth.

If you can really appreciate and analyse tennis matches, you will find atleast 20+ matches better than yesterday’s semi-final. Yes it was a great match, but to say there has been no generation like the present one shows your ignorance of the game.

There are several matches, in the last 25years, I can list just off the top of my head that have been much greater in quality than the delpo-nole semi-final. As well as delpo played, nole was not even playing 80% as good as he did in USO 2011 or AO 2012.

The match would have ended in 4 sets if nole was playing his very best tennis and the quality would have been much higher if delpo could move on grass like Federer/hewitt/roddick did at their prime. Oh 1 more thing, as much as I like delpo, his serving is a joke for a 6ft 6 guy. He needs to look at raonic/gulbis/janowicz and do much better than what he does. same goes for cilic!

okay peeples, i am a leaving now. please feel free to come and display your tennis knowledge on how lean and mean murray is looking and how handsome he looks in a tux – as we all know that is what is going to decide the winner tomorrow and not how good they match up technically.

Here’s a interesting piece of trivia. if nole wins tomorrow, he will have less titles than murray on grass, but 2 wimbledons. anyone believe murray’s olympic gold will convince people that he is the better grass-court player?

It also means nole is 2/2 in wimbledon finals as opposed 2/5 for claydal. Do we have to wait till nole makes it 3/3 to anoint him a greater grass-courter than rafa? remember both these times nole moved to wimbledon from clay without any warm-ups!

Every generation HAS been unique. Jimmy Connors was unique in that despite his abilities he was a terrible sportsman. I am complementing the blend of the two in the present moment.

A number of former players that still speak publicly (Agassi, McEnroe) have been the first to acknowledge that the level of play is at an all-time high. To point that out is no disrespect to former greats. Former coaches have said the same – Brad Gilbert’s comments about Rafa come to mind.

It is only my age and life experience that made more cautious,
I wasn’t like that always but I paid my price and learned the lesson. Sometimes you have to do your bit in life (sport) and wait for the things to come your way without forcing them to come your way and they will come your way … as long as you don’t give up and keep working hard. Nole did exactly that by not giving up after spending four years as #3 and he reaped the rewards and still doing it. If he can do that against Andy and keep focus 100% he will win with his game but how do we know if that is going to be the case? We don’t, but we will cheer for that to be the case. You mentioned RG last year, snd that is what I am talking about. For difference when he lost against Federer at RG2011, where Federer played ET tennis, Nole froze last year. When he came out second day with a break advantage I looked at him and told my wife (who just sits to anoy me and doesn’t follow much of the sport) he is going to lose. She told me “but they didn’t even start”, I said it doesn’t matter, after following him for so many years only by looking in to his eyes I know where he is at the moment. Rafa broke back stright away and rest is the history.
Late Jelena Gencic said once that for her it is enough to see Nole walking on the court before match and by looking at his body language and eyes she would know if he is going to win or not, That is how good she knew Nole. I am getting to that stage myself.
This was way too much writing for me.

I think tomorrow’s match is a toss-up, and will depend on who plays better. They obviously will have plans and tactics, but things almost always don’t happen according to plan.

Both are deserving to win the title, for sure!

Both players have been in multiple major finals, so there shouldn’t be any jitters starting out.

Crowd support could be a deciding factor, although Nole has dealt with that with aplomb in the past. This is where his previous experience playing against Roger come in really handy. Roger always have home-court advantage everywhere he plays.

Andy’s supposed back injury has not been discussed at all in this tournament. If he is fully healthy and the back doesn’t bother him, I would consider him more physically fit.

However, Nole has a heart of a champion. He usually finds a way, just as he did against Delpo, who I thought played his A-game in the SF.

Such impeccable logic. Do I need to serve better than delpotro to tell him his serving is below par?

By your logic claydal should have been coached by wilander/lendl and Federer by laver/sampras. If you have a brain and can see what is happening on the court and understand the technicalities of the game you can identify and possibly suggest the changes.

I guess that is way of your league as you seem to have the analysing and logical reasoning of an elementary school kid.

Wog Boy:

Fair enough. Nole has to bring atleast his A- game tomorrow, but as Sidney said, the game is on nole’s racquet. If he brings his best, it will be more than enough to take care of anything murray can throw at him.

Ofcourse thomas-johannason beat safin and ashe beat connors in a slam final, and delpotro beat federer in a slam final – however they qualify as miracles rather than the norm.

As murray fan’s strongly seem to believe pigs might fly and murray might actually win wimbledon – just don’t think anyone should be holding their breath. especially not murray fans who have suffered already with their guy getting crushed by even claydal who is just an average grass-court player and a federer who was well past his prime. oh well, maybe they can only learn the lesson the hard way.

Then again, the murray fans have been mum about lady forehand’s tennis since nando – a nobody on grass knocked a lot of sense into their heads. it is the rafa fans like brando/giles waging a proxy battle against nole as they see their claydal do his annual ritual of bending over to a no body on grass after winning a clay slam. they have been rooting for tommy haas, berdych, delpotro and finally murray.

I wonder what would happen to their sanity if rafa does pull the plug on the season, as is looking more and more likely. I hope tennis fans can arrange for some psychiatrists to counsel these loose cannons like giles/mem/zod/hr.

Danny Morris, you are doing good. Keep attacking Murray and his fans. Include some facts in your posts so they think you are smart. Good boy. I send you money via paypal for drink beer after No1e victory.

Your such the playdoh. Instead of “riding” others comments, come up with something that came from your own mind, or HR, or RFF, or whatever the day suits. We all know that is a tall task for you.
Your purpose is clear, to wreak havok and piss on fans who want to talk tennis. You’re true interest in the game is only your selfish attention as a comedic act with multiple monikers. Notice most aren’t responding anymore?

This is Andy’s 7th slam final and that is an achievement by itself. Not many players are able to do it. Now Andy has his task cut out. He has to win against the top player to realize the British dream of seeing a home grown Champion. Novak leads their H2H 11-7 plus he is mentally more stronger than Andy is. He is a player for the big occasion and most importantly executes his best Tennis in big moments. Therefore, the task of Andy gets even tougher. However, what should be comforting Andy is that it is a Grass court and Novak is not a natural Grass court player and he has beaten him here in the past at the Olympics in straight sets. That should give him some encouragement ahead of the finals. But he should see that the nerves do not get to him like it happened for Lisicki who was tipped to win yesterday’s final. So it should be a close match. But I think Novak will win this one in four with three tough sets.

Michael, Nole will win this in straight sets and shut those British mouths up. I hope he doesn’t lose his cool. In case he does, I hope he tells the crowd what he told the Madrid crowd. You don’t mess with No1e. Ask Rafa and Roger.

Well, Novak holds the edge despite the fact that he lost to Andy in the Olympics which is the only grass court stand off between them. I may not buy your prediction about a straight set victory just because Andy is not an ordinary player and he has also won the US Open just taking the monkey off his back. But what must hurt Andy’s cause is the fact that he is yet to meet a big match player in this Wimbledon and that put a question mark on his level of play at the moment ?

Michael, if No1e play his best tennis it’s a straight set win. But if Nole don’t play his best and Andy play the best match of his life, it can go to 5 sets. Then No1e win. No1e wants this, he said it. So I know he will win.

skeeze, how many slams has Roger won since 2011 or even 2010? Compare that with Nole’s slam count since 2011. He’s toyed with the Fedal ever since. More with Fed. And when Nole wins French Open next year, beating Nadal, he will be called the greatest of all time. He would do what Roger could never do, beat Nadal at Roland Garros and win French Open to complete Novak Slam. 7 and 10+ more to come. Djoker rules!

Why Roger choked against Novak despite multiple Match points in the US Open 2010 and 2011

Well, simple explanation for that would be “It happens in Tennis”. Can you call a player who won 17 slams and 6 World Tour Finals as a choker ? Roger came back from 2-6 in the tie break against Roddick at Wimbledon, is that a signature of a choker ? He came back from the brink being two sets behind against Rafa and almost won it ? Not only this, in his illustrious career, Roger has made numerous comebacks from behind. Even in last years Wimbledon, he came back being on the verge of defeat against Bennateau. Also his comeback against Haas at the French Open in 2009 is worthy of mention and even against Berdych and Tipsaveric at the Australian Open being two sets behind. So, the explanation is like this. You win some and lose some. Roger was lucky to win those and it seems the tide of luck has turned against Novak in 2010 as well as 2011 US Open when Novak hit a blinded return of service winner in desperation and it turned the match upside down. So, it would be naive to brand Roger as a choker like Almagro or Verdasco. The fact is it happens to all the players including Roger.

Novak is a GREAT player. Nodoubt about it. But you need not undermine the importance of Roger to drive home your point. What will happen in future is something in the realm of speculation ? What all that matters is what is on the table. If Novak is able to achieve all the feats you have mentioned like winning the Calendar Grand Slam, then it would be Great and he would lay his claim to the acronym of being the GREATEST. But till them it would be futile to speculate on that. As of now, the most successful player in the Professional Tennis World is Roger. Period !!

Michael, I am not saying Roger is choker. He has done well against chokers like Verdasco, Roddick, Berdych, Murray. But he choked against Nole. Only Nole. Why? Let’s be honest, Nole can be very intimidating with his game and physical level. That’s why he wins 5 set matches because he’s just the best mentally, physically, tactically. Nothing against Roger but his post match interview after 2011 US Open semi final was classless. Slap shot? That was wonderful, most amazing return forehand winner. Why was he pissed at No1e? No1e was just better as we all know.

Even I admire the tenacity of Novak. He is a fighter to the core and even his opponents have to grudgingly admit it for truth cannot be brushed away when it stares in the face. If Novak’s opponents lose due to his brilliant play, then it cannot be branded as choking. You can only say that they were consumed by brilliance. Choking is about giving away the match deliberately with a touch of nerves unable to handle the opponent. Afterall what can Roger do with such a blinder of a return of serve ? But up 40-15 he should have won that match. An ace would do it. But he couldn’t deliver it. That is the sheer luck of any sport. Roger couldn’t cope up with the pressure built by Novak and caved in. All credit to Novak for turning it around. About that Roger’s slap shot comment at the press conference after the match, well when the press enquired about that stroke of brilliance, Roger couldn’t agree and said it was a desperate hit by Novak which luckily clicked. That was his view. But even in my view, such blind hitters rarely catch the line. It was Novak’s day. However, that was only one point and Roger still had scope to make amends as afterall he was 40-15 on his serve and he couldn’t !!

This years AO final was pretty much a proof of their strengths and weaknesses. If Novak plays his best, then Murray is not his equal. Maybe, no one is his equal. But it’s impossible to play your best everyday. That’s where Murray has a chance.

If Novak serves the way he did against Del Po, I do not see a chance for Murray. Not just against Del Po, even before this match Novak has been doing some awesome serving this tournament. I have not seen him serve this well before, though I know he has a very good serve.

On the baseline, Novak has more firepower and an infinite retrieving skill of Murray would not bother him. Novak can go on and on hitting the balls and changing direction without bothering about the ball coming back. Nadal has tasted this medicine and learnt his lessons. that’s why he went for broke in the final set against Novak in the semis, because he knew getting the ball back is the worst tactic to use against Novak.

So were does Murray has a chance? One tactic I have seen Murray use against Novak and work for sometime is to redirect the balls standing mid court. He won USO using the tactic and he used it for sometime successfully even during the AO. Can he use the tactic against Novak for 5-setters. It’s like Roger attacking against Rafa on his BH. It may work shortly in 3-setters or indoor setup, but in outdoors and big matches, it’s the better player wins most of the match.

Can Murray play all court game tomorrow? That’s one chance he can take and see if he can succeed. He may in the end and this may work out better for him than standing in the baseline and retrieving the balls back to Novak. This is what Roger did against Novak last Wimbledon. Can Murray repeat the tactic? Let’s see.

In my opinion, Murray can have a match of it if he has a good serving day. It was his first serve percentage which wriggled him out of dire straits in his match against Verdasco and also against Jancowiz. The question is will that consistency continue in the finals too ?

Michael, If you think Andy’s 1st serve is big, I agree. But his consistency on 1st serve is very poor. I have never seen him hit 1st serves consistently on big points the way Novak is doing now. Also with Novak’s return the dimension of depending on 1st serve changes a lot. The ball comes back as fast as it goes.

Well on crucial break points against Verdasco as wel as Jancowiz, Murray’s fired aces or unreturnable serves. That saved him the match. As you said against Novak, it is going to be different just because he has the best return of serve in the business. What could save Andy is his all court game and his tactical brilliance. He knows how to play against Novak. He has beat him many times in the past and that should give him some confidence going into this match. Still, the edge is only with Novak, but Andy cannot be far behind in my opinion.

Message for Andy from the Prime Minister who will be in the Royal Box today:
“The whole country right behind you Andy, go for it”
I know a certain Spaniard who I am sure will be rooting for Andy as well.
Go Andy, make your country proud! Good luck, I know you can do it!

@ the DA
EVERYBODY who attempts to hide their previous identities by trying to adopt a different style, reveals themselves sooner or later….know what I mean…;)
There’a a prog on UK radio, “The Write Stuff.” It’s a literary quiz and every week they choose a famous writer and, at the end, the contestants have to write a pastiche in the style of that person. It’s very clever. We’ve had Jane Austen, Rudyard Kipling, Enid Blyton etc.
Think I could manage Enid, but doubt anyone else. lol

Michael, that’s what I mean. It was just a point and Roger could still have closed out the match with a good serve but he choked. No complains though. I’m glad my boy Serbanator is in the heads of his rivals such as Roger, Rafa and Andy. Can’t wait to see him break Britain’s heart in straight sets or 4 and lift his 7th slam. 7 and many more to come. Goathood not far. Ajde Nole!

Mat4 Im on holiday this week,and i wont have much access to a computer,my brother in law has let me use his,this is just a sporadic post,but just to say im sorry about your father,and i can only hope for the best for him,and all your family,you will be in my thoughts,sometimes theres more important things in life than tennis,take care for now over and out :)..xx

@TennisZod
I think I know who you are and your English is pretty good. You never were so anti Andy though :(
Wasn’t really referring to you either…;)
@mat4
Sorry to hear that.
Yes, at long last it is sweltering in the UK. Centre will be like a cauldron. Goodness knows who that favours. Will it mean the court is more like clay…yikes? Or will it mean the ball speed is faster…goodee?
Or something else?

Your hatred for nole and his fans shows, atleast HR/RFF do not pretend.

stick to HR and knees talk, RFF and tennis zod are fail. You can never fathom the greatness of Fed/Nole. now, lady forehand id would be a total rage.

mat4:

hope everything gets better for you and your family. Rest assured nole is winning this in less than 4sets. in the most unlikely chance he doesn’t, it would be because the Wimbledon authorities stooped below their reputation as a fair and honest sports body in their desperation to put an end to the misery of Great Britain’s sports scene in general and in particular their tennis history which is perhaps the worst – considering the amount they invest.

ok peeples, time to put your loyalties and show who you really stand for. Here is my pick:

Nole in less than 4 sets. margot/da/volley to do the vanishing act or to create another new id/head so that the hydra can counsel her different “heads”.

Ajde Nole. Keep continuing your march towards the no.2 position in GOAThood and extend your standing as the 2nd in this generation on surfaces that most tennis champions care. [AO,Wimbledon, USO and YEC]

Where are you? Nole is winning this wimbledon and I hope you will be hear to celebrate Nole’s 2nd biggest year as a tennis player [maybe it will end even better than 2011 - if he wins USO/YEC and 2 out of the remaining 4 1000s].

It is ok, I will not hold the fact the you lied/denied you were a rafa fan, even though Daniel and other Fed fans at that time, would agree with me.

Agree. Novak can be proud of having brought to an abrupt end the Fedal domination. That is surely an added feather in his decorated cap. No one could challenge the hegemony except Novak who had the gall to challenge the supremacy of the duopoly power centres in Tennis World. That speaks volumes about his greatness and I respect his achievements.

I think tennis-x is going through a change too, just like the tennis scene. As rafa has gotten replaced by murray, all his fans are hoping onto murray bandwagon. I know most of us smart/intelligent people would be surprised, but even in their own un-intelligent ways, these rafa fans are doing a smart thing. like worms that clean up the environment, they are doing the right thing, even though they do not mean to.

nadal sucks outside clay [1 title in 33 months] and murray sucks on clay. [i dont think he has even won a 250 on clay]. so, it is the right thing to do, so that they donot become totally lose like mem/giles.

murray fans – I will be honest, i really sympathise andy and his fans’ situation. If it were not nole on the other side, I would not mind him winning it. [actually, I would be supporting /delpotro/janowicz/dimitrov/berdych/haas/gasquet even ferrer/rosol/darcis ahead of murray, just kidding on the ferrer part] point is, my hand against murray is forced because nole is genuinely my 2nd favorite, kind of like murray for jane/brando/alison and ofcourse murray’s fans like da/volley/margot constantly telling us murray is a better grass-court player than nole gets annoying after a lot of ignoring too. Trust me, there is only so much level of stupidity/lack of knowledge you can ignore. I am very patient with a lot of other tennis-knowledge-challenged fans. James can attest for it, Ben/myself helped him with some stats he was asking, even though he is an avowed rafa/murray fan.

As for Sean/Ben/myself, we will be around to provide you tennis analysis and statistics so that you do not degrade this site to some tabloid site where we are talking about how handsome chardy/paire are or how gorgeous kirilenko/ivanovic are. [though both statements are true, this is predominantly a TENNIS site and not a X-rated site]. I can suggest some great X sites, if that is what you really want.

Let the Final begin. Murray, please hit the forehand like how nole/delpotro/federer/janowicz/blake/gonzo or even ferrer or atleast like serena/sharapova/lisicki hit. It might just help you win a set today and prevent us from being embarrassed like we were last year. I was not able to enjoy Federer’s great achievement because you had to turn the tap on for all the wrong reasons. Take an advice: cry only if you actually have given it your everything and played like a real contender[look at fed/nole/delpotro/janowicz/ soda pop/ or even claydal/ferrer] and not like a pretender. [yourself berdych and the lot].

I am sorry lady-forehand fans. I am not going to be apologetic or fake humility for my achievements, my intelligence, my knowledge and my favorite’s dominance because it intimidates under-achievers like you who can identify with the fanged one.

I have listed a bunch on numbers – which only Ben had the ability to comprehend. All I see from you murray trolls is the usual drivel – murray looks lean and mean, he is a diamond – yeah that is why burns under pressure and turns to ashes.

coming back to the match, did chrissie evert just say djokovic is the most mentally tough player the sport has ever seen? she said something like no offence to claydal, but djokovic has come back so often in so many big matches! oh my! even french open champs are jumping off the claydal bandwagon and not buying his knees story! LOL!

Let us hope murray’s back doesn’t flare up like kneedal’s knees do when he’s losing. credit to him, he doesn’t sit out 80% of the season waiting for clay to begin. so, I think he will not do a kneedal, but who knows what the top3′s whipping boy in slams, lady-forehand mandy will do! definitely not his fans da/margot/giles who still can’t say openly that he WILL beat nole.

atleast giles has started showing his true-self cursing nole. so that is where all the murray-fanism is coming from. a deep hatred for nole for thrashing claydal 7-0!

keep at it nole haters/murray *ankers giles/da/margot. nole has made a career out of making his results speak against haters like you

There is too much hype on Murray from the commentators and the media. The last time I heard this much hype was for Lisciki for the ladies final event. I feel that as long as that Henman Hill is named after a loser, they may never see a hometown winner.

Danny boy, great post @ 7:16 am
It is refreshing to see a Fedfan take his time to show his support for No1e and try to provoke fans of “claydal” and “lady forehand” on a tennis forum. I hope more Federer fans follow your example and leave the past behind and embrace the present and future of tennis, the true Goat, No1e Djoker. And keep your claydal/lady forehand posts coming. I trust you have all the time in the world to do it.

“@TennisZod
I think I know who you are and your English is pretty good. You never were so anti Andy though :( ”

No, you don’t, Margot. Thank you! I’ve worked hard on my english these last few days. YouTube is amazing! I bet you can learn a foreign language through it easily ;) I am not so anti Andy like my good friend Danny (god bless him) but I want my boy to win. And he will. If Murray plays the match of his life, maybe then he has a chance to win 1 or even 2 sets. I hope you can take this defeat with grace and humility. I am sorry but No1e is a force of nature that cannot be stopped.
Ajde Nole!

Saw the replay of Murray’s last two matches. Though he played passively most of the time, I do see lot of improvement in his aggression. Can he mix it up at the right time to make the match competitive.

Mat4, sorry about your father. My thoughts are with you and your family.

Michael, That is why I consider him the best ever because he broke the Fedal which no one else could. He beat Nadal 7-0 at one point and intimidated Roger so much that the great Federer couldn’t beat him despite multiple MPs.

I am with Sean – this will be a lot like their USopen match and nole might edge it in 5. However, Murray’s best chance is to finish this in 3 or 4.

Let the best man win.

Sorry to be negative, but I hear murray stands to gain 100+ million$ in endorsements if he wins this match and Wimbledon. I can only imagine the money nole might be offered if the betting mafia extends its tentacles to him. It is very unhealthy for a sport to have so much riding on a single tournament/match.

I hope murray wins this in 3. He has made the best start getting to 15-40. Come on andy, get that 1st set and the world is yours!

Nice to see all the Brits there in support of Murray. Would be a historical event if he wins. The home crowd has waited long enough. Nol’s fitness will be tested. That was one physically tough match vs Delpo.

Well, I thought it was an incredible match from Murray yesterdayn he so deserved to win. Novak was completely under par yesterday.

TennisZod Says:
skeeze, how many slams has Roger won since 2011 or even 2010? Compare that with Nole’s slam count since 2011. He’s toyed with the Fedal ever since. More with Fed. And when Nole wins French Open next year, beating Nadal, he will be called the greatest of all time. He would do what Roger could never do, beat Nadal at Roland Garros and win French Open to complete Novak Slam. 7 and 10+ more to come. Djoker rules!

July 7th, 2013 at 12:34 am

Tenniszod, do you have to be so disparaging about the greatest of all time? And you know, it could very well be Novak who overtakes him in these stakes. But who cares anyway? They are all great in their own way.

Roger has now dropped to Number 5, so waiting for the tirade of comments on that one. Strange how it takes Roger more than 10 years to get to no. 5 (way to go Roge!), yet for other former no. 1′s, a matter of months.